Mikko Lehtonen ça pourrait être intéressant
gaucher et finlandais
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he Canadiens could add to their depth on left defence by signing Mikko Lehtonen. The Finnish left defenceman just became a free agent as his contract with the KHL’s Jokerit team has been terminated.
Lehtonen is a 26 year old offensive defenceman. He is old enough, and good enough, that he could step into an NHL lineup right away and help move the puck up ice and put up some offensive numbers. That is something the Habs really don’t have on the left side right now. Chiarot had 21 points in 69 games, Mete had 11 in 51 and Kulak had seven in 56.
Lehtonen was the highest scoring defenceman in the KHL this season with 49 points in 60 games. In fact, he was the sixth highest scorer in the entire league. There is no question he would add some scoring punch that is sorely lacking to the left side of the Habs blue line.
Lehtonen was passed over in the 2012 NHL Draft, but he isn’t exactly a late bloomer, he has just decided to not leave Europe. He seems set on moving to the National Hockey League next season.
Jokerit Helsinki
@Jokerit_EN
#Jokerit and Mikko Lehtonen have mutually agreed to terminate the player’s contract.
We all thank Mikko for a great year in Helsinki and wish him all the best in the NHL! #KHL
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6:27 AM - May 1, 2020
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He has represented his country on many occasions at the World Juniors, World Championships and Olympic Games. In the past three seasons, he has played in the KHL in Russia, the SHL in Sweden and Liiga in Finland. Before lighting up the KHL, he scored 24 points in 52 games for HV71 in Sweden’s top league and had 29 points in 55 games for Tappara in Finland.
Over the next few months, we will hear of lots of free agents signing out of different leagues in Europe. Lehtonen has the potential to have the biggest NHL impact of all of them. He would fill a huge void on the Habs roster by bringing offence to the left defence.